Dance with Me
by Iamepical
Summary: Rachel loves Eddie, but will she ever be able to overcome her doubts and admit her feelings to him? It is the first day back, and when Keisha attacks another student Rachel delves into her life and discovers a dark secret the girl has hidden. Reddie!


Rachel Mason pulled her elegant Audi into her usual parking spot in the car park of Waterloo Road, checking her rear view mirror as she did so. Parked next to her car was a land rover, which in all honesty, had seen its better days, but it was much loved by its owner, Eddie Lawson. A smile twisted the corners of her mouth upwards as she remembered the stupid bet they had made over the holidays; Rachel had been jokingly chastising him for always arriving at least 10 minutes late for period one, and he told her that this year he would arrive before her. Naturally, she insisted that he would never arrive before her so she told him if he did then she would take him out for a meal. Not that spending extra time with her deputy was something she minded.

It was a new year at Waterloo Road, and that hopefully meant a fresh start as well. After last years catastrophic ending, the only thought that Rachel could use to console herself was the fact that it could never get any worse than that. Nothing much had changed; the machine had knocked down a great part of the school and the entrance had been rebuilt so instead of the mess it used to look, they now had a quaint glass building for the entrance. It looked great to the outsider, but it didn't really feel like Waterloo Road to Rachel. Not that it mattered, the students would have defaced it by break anyway, and who was she to stop them?

Grabbing her briefcase and mobile phone, she darted quickly into the school, thinking if she got to the office before Eddie she could still win their bet.

"Yo, Miss!" Bolton Smilie was the first student she saw, and just as she expected he was swaggering over to her. Rachel was one of few who knew that his front was just an act; Bolton Smilie was soft.

"Hello, Bolton! I hope you had a good summer?"

"Sure. I had a great summer init, miss,"

"Well, it's back to school now, so you better be working hard this year. It's the last year of your GSCE's! What have you got first?"

"Maths with Lawson," he told her, rolling his eyes dramatically as if Maths was the worst thing in the world.

"That's Mr Lawson to you, Bolton," she said, bounding away from him and up the stairs.

On her way to her office, she was stopped so many times that even if Eddie had have come at his usual late time, she would have never made it to her office before him. After Stuart Hoardly's revelation, she'd never expected her school to greet her with such a warm reception, something that surprised her even after a year had passed. In fact, if anything, they seemed to support her more than before. Eddie was right when he told her to come clean when he initially found out. Damn, that man seemed to be right about everything sometimes.

"Morning, Bridgette. Is it assembly first thing?"

"Yes, Miss Mason. I'll get two cups of coffee ready. One black and one cappuccino?"

"Yes, thank you, Bridgette," sometimes Rachel wondered what she would do if her secretary quit.

She pushed open her door to find her office exactly as she had left it, with one minor adjustment.

"Ahh, Miss Mason. What time do you call this?" Eddie Lawson was sat with his feet resting on her desk, an already large mountain of paperwork stacked precariously next to him. "I think this means you owe me a meal,"

Rolling her eyes, she turned away from him and busied herself playing with the fastening on her coat she he wouldn't see her goofy smile; she couldn't deny how much she'd missed him over the holidays.

"Eddie! Now summer's over you no longer have permission to put your feet on my desk! I'm already running late as it is. We have a careers evening to host. There's no food, and we haven't even sent letters out to parents,"

Eddie released a long sigh in response to this, and Rachel knew exactly why. Every time even a hint of that electric chemistry sparked between them, she always brought up work and ruined the moment. She just couldn't help herself. There was no point denying it, she'd always wanted Eddie, but every time he tried to move closer to her she would push him away. Swinging to his feet, he rested a hand on her arm.

"Don't worry. I emailed Bridgette over summer. Steph is in charge of arranging food, and all the parents are informed,"

"Oh-," she had to admit, she was a bit shocked. Eddie was a great deputy, but he wasn't exactly well known for his organisation skills. Rachel hadn't been herself over the summer either; she'd been far too care free and...Well, just plain weird. It was something she had to snap out of. Eddie had only ever met the workaholic Rachel, never the real her, and he couldn't possibly want her if he did know the real her.

"Well, I'll get to period one then," the light atmosphere that was between them before had vanished now, and in its place hung an awkward and tense one.

"See you later," then she added before she could stop herself, "We could go for that meal tomorrow night. As much as it pains me to say it, I was wrong,"

He grinned at her, "Tomorrow it is then,"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Three hours later, she was still in the school hall fussing over the positioning of the tables and chair for careers evening. In truth, it looked fine as it was and Rachel should be helping Eddie with some of the new development plans in her office, but after earlier she felt too awkward to meet him again. What was wrong with her? Men didn't make her like this. Rachel Mason didn't need a man!

"Miss Mason? I'm sorry to trouble you, but we have a bit of an issue," began Jasmine Kareshi, a member of the English department. Rachel tried to hide it, but she was thrilled to be given any opportunity to think of something other than Eddie.

"What sort of an issue? I'm a bit busy at the moment,"

At that moment, a breathless Carla burst through the double doors that led into the hall. She was doubled over, trying to speak, but only managing pathetic gasps, "New girl...stab...Michaela...scissors...blood,"

Rachel had heard enough. Grabbing her coat, she slung it over her back and set off to Jasmine's room at a brisk run, first passing the Maths rooms then the art rooms, and finally she reached English.

"Miss Mason" Eddie's voice called jokingly after her. "No running in the corridors,"

"I don't have time for this. It's an emergency. I'll need you to call the police if someone hasn't already," Eddie knew her tone of voice meant she was deathly serious. Shocked, Rachel surveyed the situation before her as she burst into the room. Bolton was holding the new girl, Keisha, back by her arms, and by the looks of it she was putting up one hell of a fight and all the desks were moved. Everyone either looked like they were watching World Championship Boxing or scared out of their wits. What frightened her most wasn't the insane pupil, it was the girl that was lying on the floor. She was screaming silently in agony, a pair of scissors stuck out of her side with crimson blood seeping from the wound and between her fingers and onto the floor.

"I didn't know what to do, miss," Danielle was sat on the floor, pressing a wet cloth against Olivia's forehead. "I haven't moved her, and I pressed some cloth against the wound, but it won't stop bleeding, Miss," the girl's bottom lip was quivering, and Rachel could see she was frightened.

"It's ok," she wrapped an arm around Danielle's back, "You've done everything you could. I'll stay with her now until the paramedics came,"

Rachel knelt down beside her, and, realising there was nothing she could do to stench the bleeding, squeezed her hand, "You just try and stay awake, ok? You're doing really well. Squeeze my hand if you understand," she waited a moment, and then the girl squeezed. At least she was still conscious, that was something to be thankful for.

"Keisha. Calm down and listen to me," she was still pulling against Bolton, and despite the fact that Rachel knew Bolton was strong, she couldn't help but feel concerned when she saw the fire behind the girl's eyes. If anything, Rachel made her talking scream louder. Raising her voice she said, "Keisha, you have to calm-" she never finished that sentence because at that moment Bolton lost his grip for a couple of seconds, giving her enough time to break away and come hurtling at Rachel. She felt a dull thud as her head cracked against the table as she was pushed harshly backwards. Instinctively, she raised her hands to fight back, but then she remembered: no matter what this girl did to her, she was still only a student. Just a kid. Shutting her eyes, she was only vaguely aware when Bolton tried to prise her away, and they when finally Eddie turned up and together with Bolton they pulled her off completely and the pummelling stopped. Then everything went black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Rachel? Rachel, are you awake," Rachel Mason felt a gentle hand shaking her.

"Ugh," she tried to sit up straight, but she fell right back down again, her head throbbing painfully. "Eddie? What...What happened?"

"Don't worry; you're just a bit concussed. You were looking after Olivia when Keisha attacked you," it all came back to her then. The fight. The scissors. The blood. She sat bolt upright. "What about Olivia, is she ok, and her parents? Do they know?"

Eddie couldn't help but chuckle. Even now, covered in injuries, she still worried about work. "Olivia is going to be fine. Her parents have been told,"

"Good," she fell back down again then, to the inviting softness of her silky pillow. She couldn't even remember owing a silky pillow. "Eddie...where am I? School?"

"No. I brought you back to my house. The Doctor said you needed waking every hour to make sure you didn't concuss," he told her through a long yawn, purple bags circling underneath his eyes.

"Haven't you been to sleep?"

"No. I couldn't have fallen asleep happily with you like this, Rach. This is the first time you've made a coherent statement,"

Rachel felt a surge of happiness flicker inside her heart; he sounded genuinely worried about her. Not many men would stay awake all night for you. "What's the time?"

"About half 3,"

"Get some sleep, Eddie. I'll be fine now. I don't think I could fall asleep again with this headache if I tried,"

"Are you sure? I don't to wake up and find you've died on me?" he smiled, and when she nodded, he said, "Goodnight then, Miss Mason. See you in the morning," He headed towards the stairs when Rachel called him back.

"Wait...Stay down here," suddenly she realised that she really wouldn't fall back to sleep, and she didn't fancy staying on her own in the darkness. Not tonight anyway. "And Eddie, thank you,"

"What for?"

"Being there,"

That was the last thing she said to him as he settled down onto the sofa near hers. Rachel did fall asleep again that night, and so did Eddie. Embarrassed, neither of them would admit how it happened, but in the morning they awoke holding hands


End file.
